Kenco is a British brand of

instant In physics and the philosophy of science, instant refers to an infinitesimal interval in time, whose passage is instantaneous. In ordinary speech, an instant has been defined as "a point or very short space of time," a notion deriving from its ety ...

, roast and ground coffee sold by

JDE Peet's JDE Peet's is a Dutch company that owns beverage brands, mostly of coffee, tea and hot chocolate. It was formed in 2015 following the merger of the coffee division of Mondelez International with Douwe Egberts as Jacobs Douwe Egberts. The stock of ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. Originally known as the Kenya Coffee Company, they started distributing coffee to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1923. Shortly after, they opened a coffee shop in

Sloane Square Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the central London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The area forms a boundary betwee ...

and then changed their name to Kenco in 1962. In 2008, the brand was relaunched with 75% of the beans for its instant range being sourced from

Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American environmental activist, who serves ...

certified farms. The company sources their coffee beans from Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia,

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Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the no ...

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and

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History

Kenco was founded in 1923 by a co-operative of retired White Kenyan coffee growers who traded as "The Kenya Coffee Company Limited". Soon, L.C. Gibbs and C.S. Baines began selling coffee from a shop in Vere Street,

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

. The shop sold roast and ground coffee locally but most of its sales were by mail order, selling coffee to

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s using advertisements in publications such as ''

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'', '' Country Life'' and ''

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''. As demand increased, the company moved to number 30

Sloane Street Sloane Street is a major London street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about halfway along. History Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Ha ...

, London, next door to a food merchants called John Gardiner. Gardiner ran a food wholesale business, restaurants and provided outdoor catering at events such as the

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. After World War II, Tom Kelly, a Gardiner employee, persuaded the company to buy the Kenya Coffee Company. On completion of the deal, Kelly was put in charge of the new business and he expanded the retail chain. As well as selling coffee by mail order and from the Sloane Street premises, Kelly diversified into catering and opened eleven coffee shops in locations such as Wimbledon, King's Road and

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

. These Kenya Coffee Company shops may well have been the first branded high street coffee shops in the UK. In the 1960s, the cafés were thriving, selling not only coffee but all sorts of cakes as well. Besides the coffee shop activity, Kelly also acquired the rights to sell

Gaggia Gaggia is an Italian manufacturer of coffee machines, especially espresso machine, in addition to small kitchen appliances. The company is owned by Saeco. History The founder, Giovanni Achille Gaggia (1895–1961), applied for a patent (pat ...

machines, and so the company started to sell

espresso Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans and ...

machines to other coffee bars. In 1962, the Kenyan Coffee Company changed its name into the Kenco Coffee Company, to reflect that the amount of coffee the company bought from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

was decreasing. Before being owned by Jacobs Douwe Egberts, the brand was owned by

Mondelēz International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporat ...

and before that

Premier Foods Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, Lyons, Sharwood's, Loyd ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenco the Coffee Company JDE Peet's British brands British companies established in 1923 Coffee brands Food and drink companies of Kenya